Instagram Posts in Google Search: What Social Teams Need to Know (and Do)
Social media has always been a powerhouse channel for brand building. That hasn’t changed for more than a decade. But as of July 2025, that influence is dramatically expanding, with Instagram content now appearing in Google search results.
Instagram and Google quietly rolled out this update over the summer, explaining that Instagram content from Business and Creator accounts is now being indexed in organic search results.
That means that your Reels, carousels, captions, and even thumbnails can all appear in Google Search, Google Images, AI Overviews and AI Mode by default. You can opt out, if desired, but all settings are turned on unless you do.
For businesses, this is a fundamental shift and expansion in how social content—and therefore their brand—is discovered. Instagram posts are no longer just for an in-app audience. They have the potential to show up in Google search, which commands more than 90% of the global search market share. Your social content is now part of the open web, competing with websites, YouTube videos, and other organic content for user attention.
By bringing Instagram content into its results, Google is opening up a massive new visibility channel for brands and creators—one that you should be proactively optimized for like an SEO would for a website.
This article will explain how to do that.
What this means in the context of SEO and brand discoverability
To better understand why this development matters, it helps to zoom out and look at what else is going on in the SEO, social, and brand discoverability space.
Here are four related trends taking place right now.
Increasingly fragmented search ecosystem. Users don’t just search on Google and discover websites anymore. They search TikTok for tutorials, Instagram for inspiration, Reddit for reviews, and Google for everything in between. Companies try to keep users on their platform, making discoverability much more siloed and fragmented.
Rise of LLM search. AI Overviews and AI Mode in Google, Bing Copilot, and ChatGPT’s browsing mode surface search results differently than traditional algorithms, weighing brand entities, authority, and authenticity alongside keywords. The technical mechanics that underpin search are becoming much more complex, meaning that brands need to think of discoverability as a multi-platform, multi-modal strategy.
Zero-click discovery. Increasingly, users find what they need directly in content platforms, without ever visiting a website. This is true on Google, social platforms, and many other platforms that serve content directly to users. Instagram content appearing in search results, therefore, means that users may encounter your brand before they even hit your homepage. Instagram posts can now act like mini-landing pages.
Brand authority and authenticity are key. Both Google and LLMs prioritize content that feels credible and human. Brands that can combine clear topical authority with authentic storytelling will become more discoverable. Instagram has just greatly expanded its position as a platform to build that brand authority and authenticity.
All of this is why Instagram post indexing is so important. This content is no longer just confined to one social channel. It’s now fully part of a wider demand creation stack that is becoming the new normal for how brands, products, and services are discovered.
What this all looks like in practice
To get a handle on how Instagram content is appearing in Google search results, we recommend conducting some experiments on your own. Punch in a bunch of keywords for a topic you’re interested in, and take note of how many of the search results are pulled from Instagram.
Here are some examples of how Instagram content might appear on Google:
Product review: A Reel titled “Rare Beauty Tinted Moisturizer Review” may appear alongside YouTube reviews and blog posts for the query “rare beauty tinted moisturizer review.”
Local discovery: A Reel from a Toronto brunch spot showing their signature dish could rank for “best brunch in Toronto.”
Instructional content: A gym’s Reel demonstrating proper squat form might appear for the query “how to squat properly.”
Real estate/local SEO: A Reel called “Moving to Calgary: what you need to know” might rank for queries about relocating to Calgary.
Notice how these examples cut across multiple intent types: commerce, lifestyle, how-to, and local discovery. That breadth of search terms is what makes this development so powerful for brand discoverability.
Here’s an example for the search term “instagram posts on Google”:
Want to start showing up in Google Search results like that? The rest of this article will explain how.
How to choose Instagram posts to optimize for Google Search
Instagram results won’t appear for every search. Google only surfaces Instagram content when it fits search intent and provides the right type of content for the query.
That means your first job is to identify which keywords are likely to trigger Instagram results and align your posts accordingly.
Here’s how to do it:
Run keyword research. Use tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Google Keyword Planner to uncover queries aligned with your brand themes and audience interests. Zero in on a specific topic, product, or customer question to help focus your keyword research.
Analyze the search engine results page (SERP). Check which formats dominate: long-form blogs, YouTube videos, shopping carousels, or visual/social posts. If Instagram is not a natural fit, deprioritize that keyword.
Shortlist IG-friendly queries. Prioritize keywords that show video, image packs, or social snippets. These signal opportunities for Reels, carousels, or static posts.
Choose posts to optimize. Refresh evergreen or high-performing posts with SEO best practices (outlined later in this article). Where gaps exist in your content, create new posts mapped directly to the query. This way, you can take both a proactive and retroactive approach to optimizing your Instagram content for search.
Start small. Select 10 to 20 posts as a pilot group to retroactively optimize. Monitor which posts surface in Google, and refine your strategy based on what worked.
Think like a content strategist. Apply the TOFU (top-of-funnel), MOFU (middle-of-funnel), BOFU (bottom-of-funnel) framework to your Instagram calendar, syncing posts with high-intent searches and seasonal trends.
Test and iterate. Define success metrics such as Instagram post impressions, SERP visibility (observed manually for now), and traditional social signals like shares, likes, and comments. There does not appear to be a dedicated analytics tool for these types of search results yet, but one is likely in the works as we write this post.
That outlines what you can optimize on Instagram. Now let’s look at how to do it.
How to use SEO best practices to optimize your Instagram posts
Once you’ve identified the right opportunities, optimizing new or existing Instagram posts for Google Search comes back to fundamental SEO best practices.
Treat each Instagram post like a mini landing page that can rank in search, and optimize each one using the following techniques:
Write your Instagram captions like meta descriptions. Write your captions with clarity and intent. The first 125 characters should summarize the post, and align it with likely search queries. That means including your target keyword naturally, while keeping the tone authentic and on-brand.
Use alt text for accessibility. Add custom alt text for every image, carousel, and Reel cover you post. Ideally, this alt text would also include the target keyword for the post. Alt text improves accessibility and signals relevance to Google Images.
Use hashtags and categorization signals. Hashtags can be used as mini-keywords that help Google understand and categorize your content. Build a structured hashtag taxonomy that includes your brand (i.e. #Nandos), product or service (i.e. #BBQChicken), and query or intent (i.e. #BestChickenRestaurantToronto).
Optimize subtitles and on-screen text. Add accurate subtitles for every Reel to improve accessibility and search parsing. Use text overlays to reinforce target queries. For example, a Reel on workout form could include an opening with a title card like “How to squat properly.” You can also include step-by-step markers in your video to improve clarity and retention, while also incorporating more keywords into your on-screen text.
Prioritize visual clarity and thumbnails. Design clean, legible thumbnails optimized for small displays in SERPs. Use high-contrast colors, simple text overlays, and a single focal point.For carousels: the first frame should clearly state the promise of the post and include the target keyword.
Boost engagement signals. Posts with higher saves, shares, and comments are more likely to surface in Google Search results. Prioritize engagement for SEO-focussed posts to improve their chances of ranking.
Include entity and local SEO clues. Tag relevant brands, people, and locations consistently. This strengthens Google’s ability to connect your content with known entities and local intent queries.
Post-publish-refresh. To avoid your social posts sounding too SEO-ified, consider creating a post-publish-refresh cadence to balance your social voice of search optimization. For example, after a post peaks in-app, consider a light SEO refresh to shift its priority to search. Update captions, covers, or alt text to better align with queries. This extends shelf life and increases the chance of surfacing in search over time.
Tip: Always balance SEO with authenticity. Google and LLMs increasingly prioritize real, credible, and human content. Optimize for discoverability without diluting your brand voice.
Social and SEO teams are about to become best friends
If Instagram is now part of Google’s search results, social and SEO teams can’t afford to operate in silos. Get ready to make a new best friend in your organization.
The strongest results come when these groups collaborate closely and borrow from each other’s playbooks.
For social teams, this means learning to think a little more like SEOs. Captions should be written with intent in mind, hashtags should follow a clear taxonomy, and alt text should be part of every post. SEO teams, likewise, need to recognize that Instagram is no longer just a brand channel — it’s a search asset, and should be factored into the broader visibility strategy.
There are practical ways to make this collaboration work:
Share keyword research so that social themes align with search demand
Build joint calendars that coordinate blog launches, product pushes, and campaign Reels
Create shared libraries of captions, hashtags, and templates so content feels consistent across surfaces
Share research and analytics tools so that both teams have full visibility into planning, results, and trends
Above all, balance is key. SEO should enhance storytelling, not dominate it. Authentic voice and brand creativity must always lead, with optimization layered in to improve discoverability. Done well, this partnership makes every post more visible, more useful, and more impactful across both social feeds and search results.
A new era for social and search
Instagram’s inclusion in Google search is a clear signal that social is now firmly part of the search ecosystem. Discoverability is no longer limited to websites and blogs. It’s multimodal, spanning video, images, audio, carousels, and user-generated content.
For social teams this means it’s time to adopt SEO principles in your planning and publishing. Build posts with intent in mind, experiment with optimization, and collaborate closely with SEO partners. For SEO teams, it’s time to treat Instagram as a search channel that can capture early attention and brand visibility.
The brands that act now by auditing their Instagram profiles, optimizing existing posts, and experimenting with new formats will be best positioned to win in this evolving landscape.
If you want structured support, consider an Instagram SEO audit or workshop from Cleo Social as your next step.